Ever since he was a kid with an allowance, Chris Johnson has collected records.

By his estimate, he’s now got more than a thousand of them in his basement. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t add a few more to his collection of soundtracks, folk, jazz and music from Africa.

Johnson, of Joliet, was just one of the many vinyl fans at a recent Orland Park Record Collectors show at Georgios Banquets. There were 40 dealer tables with hundreds of records for sale from an array of music genres including rock, blues, jazz, country, pop and heavy metal. There were also cassettes, CDs and music memorabilia.

“I’m filling in holes in my collection,” Johnson said. After all, it’s good to have plenty of music to choose from.

“I put on something, whatever I think the mood is going to fit,” he said, adding his taste in music is “all over the place.”

With the popularity of vinyl records remaining consistent and spawning popular events such as Record Store Day and its Black Friday variant, in which a number of exclusive records are released on the day after Thanksgiving, turntable tunes are appealing to an increasingly diverse audience.

Taste was hard to pin down among those at the recent show in Orland Park. Many shoppers were looking for something different from what was in the bulk of their collection. In some cases, their preferences had evolved into different music genres over the years.

John Anderer was there with his mother, Karen Rogan, both of Manhattan. Anderer has more than 100 records of all genres at home.

“I like records, so figured I’d stop by to see what’s up,” he said. Anderer was already holding an album by Danish metal band Mercyful Fate and Japanese metal band Loudness and was still shopping for more vinyl.

Larry O’Connell, who planned and coordinated the show, is also a hardcore record lover who’s been organizing such events since the heyday of albums. His first was in 1985 at a tavern and banquet hall on the south side of Chicago and over time he started hosting the events six times a year. That’s been reduced to three annual shows these days, at scattered locations including Alsip, Homewood, Harvey and Tinley Park.

Though O’Connell lives in Chicago, his sister lives in Homer Glen, where their dad also used to live.

Growing up on the South Side near 67th and Wood streets, O’Connell said he only had a few records until he met a friend who was an avid collector. He soon was too.

“I didn’t have too many records,” he said. Among them was an album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. “My mother had bought these records when I was a young teenager. We went to his concert in 1966 and I was so impressed. It was exciting because they sing in Brazilian.” Then as he got older, he started going to symphonies whenever he could. Today his taste in music varies, but he still enjoys spinning records by the Doors and Led Zeppelin. Lots of the music he plays, and that he sells at the shows he organizes, harkens back to his formative years.

That’s especially true this time of year. At the Orland Park show, O’Connell was selling 30 cassettes featuring Christmas music, including albums by the Beach Boys and Ramsey Lewis.

“My mom played Ray Conniff every Christmas,” he said, adding he carries on the tradition. “There’s a certain nostalgia. All families have a traditional record they go to every Christmas.”

Besides the opportunity to sell albums, vendors said they enjoy the shows because they offer a chance to hear what buyers like and, like O’Connell, revel in all the memories evoked by the music, and even the album covers.

“It’s always great to talk to people to see what they’re looking for and what interests they have,” said Larry Cappos, who was selling records from his Vinyl Revival store in Morris. “Everybody has their own taste.”

He said he likes bands and musicians from the 1970s and ’80s, such as Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen. For his store and vending, his daughter helps pick the more modern music.

Tim Brand, who helped Cappos start Vinyl Revival and works for him, said the store has 10,000-15,000 records available to browse, and more in the back.

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.